America Online, which Monday announced a
merger with Time Warner, also
forged a cross-promotion and content-sharing alliance with the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS).
The three-year deal is meant to give each company an opportunity to expand
its brand across a wider audience.
The deal calls for PBS to provide content to several AOL brands, which will
include creating new content exclusively for the AOL Kids Only Channel. The
new feature, called “Kratt’s Creature Adventure,” will be created by Chris
and Martin Kratt of the program ZOBOOMAFOO.
The television network will also give AOL on-air branding on many of PBS’
best-known programs. The network of 346 stations reaches 99 percent of
American homes.
PBS will receive integrated promotion across the AOL brands, and will be
assigned AOL Keywords, a short-cut way for AOL members to access the PBS
online content. The AOL Keywords will be cited at the end of many of PBS’
top programs and in much of PBS’ print advertising.
“This opportunity significantly builds the ubiquity of the AOL brand and
enables us to showcase an enhanced and interactive TV viewing experience to
more consumers,” says Marshall Cohen, AOL’s senior vice president of brand
development.
